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CASE REPORTS TO NVIC OF
DIABETES FOLLOWING MMR SHOTS
Every day since 1982, the National Vaccine Information Center has been
contacted by countless numbers of mothers and fathers reporting deaths, brain
injuries and chronic health problems following routine childhood vaccinations.
The names and ages of the children change, but the descriptions of what happens
to them are always the same. Following are a few examples of what parents have
told us in their own words happened to their children after they were injected
with MMR or rubella vaccine and developed juvenile diabetes.
Diabetes at 15 Months Old
"My daughter, age 15 months, received her first MMR vaccine at a routine
well-baby check-up. Prior to receiving the vaccine she had no health problems
other than an occasional cold. Three weeks later she was diagnosed with Type I
diabetes.
"At her check-up, the pediatrician warned me that in 7 to 10 days she might
develop a fever and/or rash in reaction to the vaccine. Eight days later she
developed a slight fever which I attributed to the vaccine.
"Over the course of that week she began drinking fluids to an excess degree.
She was so thirsty that she drank 2-3 cupfuls at a time and then began wetting
through her diapers, saturating her crib sheets. She also became lethargic.
"...her condition deteriorated rapidly...she had severe diarrhea and vomiting,
which are signs of out-of-control diabetes...her weight had dropped from 21
pounds less than three weeks earlier to 17 pounds...after two days in intensive
care, she was moved to a hospital room on the regular pediatric ward for five
days while my husband and I were given a crash course on diabetes management."
"Today our daughter is 11 years old. She looks the picture of health and lives
a seemingly normal life. She excels in school, baby-sits and is popular with
school and neighborhood friends. But she is different. She is diabetic and
diabetes does not go away.
She is rudely awakened every morning at 7 a.m. with a finger-prick to test her
blood glucose levels and then receives her first injection of insulin. Four to
five times a day she tests her blood sugar and twice a day she injects herself
with insulin. This totals over 1600 finger pricks and 1100 injections each year
(her dinnertime injection is really two injections since the two types of
insulin she needs then cannot be mixed in one syringe).
She must eat regularly whether she is hungry or not in order to prevent insulin
reactions. Occasionally she has experienced seizures during severe reactions.
Common illnesses such as stomach viruses and strep throats demand a complete
change in her regimen with the potential for hospitalization if her blood
sugars go out of control."
"Diabetes-related medical expenses, for insulin, syringes, blood-testing
materials, quarterly visits to a pediatric endocrinologist and an annual eye
examination total over $1500 annually.
Although many diabetics are fortunate to live normal lifespans and lead full
lives despite their illness, statistically speaking my daughter is at high risk
as a diabetic for a number of health problems often experienced by diabetics
after 10 or more years: blindness, nerve damage, kidney problems, circulatory
problems (heart attacks and strokes), high risk pregnancies, amputation of
limbs. On the average, diabetics' life expectancies are shortened by a third
from the age of onset of diabetes.
Considering her young age at onset, 15 months, we can only pray that her
regimen of insulin, diet, exercise and proper medical care will enable her to
escape complications of diabetes and live a long life."
Diabetes at Nine Years Old
"My son received the rubella vaccine and within the reaction period he came
down with diabetes mellitus.... My husband and myself feel very certain this
vaccines caused diabetes in my son, who at the time was nine and a half years
old."
High Fever, Seizures and Diabetes After MMR Shot
"Nine days after a MMR shot, my daughter suffered 105.6 degree temperature. She
also suffered seizures periodically during the next 10 months. She then
developed diabetes. I know the vaccine is directly related to her present
medical condition."
Forced to Vaccinate 11 Year Old and Diabetes Follows
"Despite our protests, we were forced to comply with state law and have our 11
year old daughter re-vaccinated for rubella and measles. Up to the time that
she was vaccinated, she was in good health. Within two months after the
injection, she was admitted to the hospital with the diagnosis of juvenile
diabetes mellitus. During those two months, there was no evidence of a viral
infection or any other illness. I strongly feel that the shot triggered the
diabetes and am aware of medical evidence supporting that."
MEDIA REPORTS ASK THE QUESTION:
IS THE CURE WORSE THAN THE DISEASE?
In fall 1997, two influential professional magazines featured articles asking
the question: Has the decrease of infectious diseases in childhood through the
mass use of vaccines been replaced with an increase in chronic diseases such as
diabetes and asthma? The Economist, a prestigious international magazine
read by
world leaders in government, business and public policy, and Science News, a
magazine read by both health care professionals and the general public,
explored the reported links between vaccines and chronic diseases in their
November 22, 1997 issues.
Infections in Childhood Protect Against Chronic Disease - In an article entitled:
"Plaqued by Cures," The Economist acknowledged that trying to prevent or treat
an infectious disease can have profound effects on the pathogenic organism that
causes it, pointing to the evolution of antibiotic-resistant strains of
bacteria and the appearance of mutant viruses able to evade vaccines. The
article went on to explain the "hygiene hypothesis," which holds that exposure
to infections in childhood may prevent chronic disease later in life and that
"intervening in infections may have undesireable effects on the hosts - that
is, on people - as well as on the pathogens themselves."
The article in The Economist reviewed a number of new medical studies
around the
world which back up the hygiene hypothesis. In a study in Guinea-Bissau,
researchers found that children who had not had measles disease were
significantly more likely to suffer from allergies including asthma, eczema and
hay-fever. In Italy, researchers found that children who were exposed to
hepatitis A disease were less likely to suffer from allergies. And a study
published in a November 1997 Archives of Disease in Childhood showed that
children in England who had suffered a severe respiratory infection in
childhood were less likely to acquire Type 1 diabetes.
One theory being forwarded to explain why recovery from naturally occurring
childhood diseases is important is that the human immune system has evolved
over tens of thousands of years to respond to and be strengthened by attacks
from viruses and bacteria. Depriving the developing immune system of naturally
occurring infections in childhood may cause the immune system to eventually
attack itself, which is what happens in autoimmune diseases like asthma and
diabetes.
Unvaccinated Children Have Less Asthma - In an article entitled "The Dark Side
of Immunizations?," Science News reviews new reports by researchers that show
that vaccinated children have a higher incidence of asthma and diabetes than do
unvaccinated children. Science News reports that a study by researchers at the
Wellington School of Medicine in New Zealand found that unvaccinated New
Zealand children report fewer cases of asthma than vaccinated children.
Another study by New Zealand researchers published in the November 1997
Epidemiology analyzed the health of 1,265 people born in 1977. Of these, 23
didn't get any childhood vaccinations and none of them suffered childhood
asthma. Among the 1,242 who got polio and DPT shots, more than 23 percent later
had episodes of asthma.
Science News adds that a 1994 survey of 446 British children, most of them
eight
years old, showed that 91 received no vaccinations in early childhood. Only one
child out of 91 got asthma. About 11 percent of the other 355 children who had
been vaccinated with pertussis and other vaccines had asthma.
The article goes on to note that animal studies indicate that an absence of
contact with naturally occurring viruses increases the risk of diabetes and
that research in humans suggest that some childhood infections may prime a
person's immune system to fight off asthma.
Howard L. Weiner, an immunologist at Harvard Medical School in Boston, is
quoted in the article as saying that immunization skews the activity of the
immune system and "If a person has a tendency toward a disease at a certain
age, a vaccine might ... make [him or her] more susceptible later, when other
challenges come along." He added, "It's logical that there might be some immune
manipulation that happens in childhood that might have a positive or negative
effect on these diseases."